Metroid: The Original Story
by Ultimate Ridley
Summary: Ever wondered what exactly happened as Samus Aran was a child? What happened before she was born? How all Metroid began? This story tells it all. Also retells Samus's first mission on Zebes. Think Mecha Ridley was the final boss? You're so wrong... T4V
1. The Mertonian War

_**Metroid:**_

_**The Original Story**_

by Ultimate Ridley

This fiction by Ultimate Ridley is a remake of the original Metroid in story format. However, this is all a tribute, as Metroid and the characters within it are registered trademarks of Nintendo. This story is told in the point of view of Samus Aran. The timeline events in this story differ between Halo vs. Metroid and this story because I had to reformat HvM's timeline to fit Halo's timeline as well, so please don't complain about so. This story is more accurate chronology wise than HvM. So expect differences.

* * *

You all know who I am. I am the "dude" you play as in that one game, Metroid. But once you saw my whole mission from beginning to end, you learn that I'm not much of a dude. My name is Samus Aran, and I live a hard life, filled with alienoid beings and tough missions, plus an annoying boss. But, you may be wondering, why is the game called "Metroid"? It began as a rivalry between two races, between two planets, SR388 and Zebes...

**Planet Zebes, Year 2011, Chozodian Kingdom**

Year 2011? That may seem too oddly close to when you were alive, but weren't scientists predicting different life out here in space back then? Yeah. And they were _sooo_ right about it. In a different galaxy, there was a planet known as Zebes. Zebes is like a desert-not much plant life here. Zebes isn't much on the surface unless you absolutely love a peaceful life with no, well, fun. But if you love to kick alien butt at the cost of your own life put on the table for keeps, the Zebesian Caverns is your place to go. Well, it was once just as peaceful as the Earthine Caverns, a typical one, that is during this time. But, I mean, evil entered it as soon as the war was over. The war between the Chozos and the Mertonians.

Let me tell you about these two races. The Chozos, who were my "parents", if you want to call them that, though not exactly the same freaking _genus or species_ as I am, were an ancient birdlike humanoid civilization, and they were much like the Native Americans or Mayans or Aztecs. Except they were birds, with opposable thumbs, and the fact that by year 2786 B.C., Earth years, they could make pretty much any technology available to mankind at the early twenty-first century plus more than what they knew. But the Chozos weren't screw ups like mankind is. The Chozos always found a way to intertwine technology with nature and religion, something mankind might not ever understand. And they had a natural hobby to share this knowledge with more primitive species, no matter how much of a disadvantage that provides. How do I know this? I was raised by them, for like the thousandth time you've heard in your life. They taught me all I know-but my favorite was Eneta Kaarutin, the master shaman for the Zebesian colony of Chozos. Oh, by the way, did I mention the Chozos made freaking Zebes? _From scratch? _I have yet to know how they did it, but they made more than just Zebes. They made Tallon IV and Corella 5 as well. And others, of which I really wouldn't know about. Criminal Chozos were exiled to the caverns of whatever planet they are currently on. And, legend has it, that on Zebes, the worse crime you committed and worse record you have, the deeper you're exiled into. And, they say that the exiles on Zebes become statues of what they looked like after they die, to give them another chance to serve the Chozodian gods by holding different items. See? The Chozos are even somewhat polite to the criminals!

Now to the Mertonians. Pretty much literally opposite from the Chozos in all ways possible. They were evil. They were human-like rodents, which is a bird's prey. They couldn't care less about nature, because there was always the possibility of them ruling the universe, which, the Mertonians found as the only thing necessary to aim for. Seriously, these pathetic losers had some life and mental _issues _to work out. On their plus side, because they spent absolutely no time caring about nature, and only aiming for universal domination, their technology is even more advanced than the Chozos'. These rats lived on a planet they called _Kruralla, _but I could care less about what they called it. We, the surviving humans, called it SR388. Only one thing the Mertonians lack-love for anything. The Chozos have a couple offspring and devote nearly their whole entire freaking life to the young ones. But what do the Mertonians do? As soon as the baby comes out, both the maternal and the fraternal unit say "Screw you!" and walk away, leaving the little rat hopeless and defenseless. What a way to go. Surprising enough their race lasted a long time, especially since _Metroids _lurk SR388, eating the X Parasite-but may also be hungry for little rats.

Metroids. Yeah, there's a reason they're the name of the franchise. They're dangerous, cold-hearted, life-energy sucking organisms in which, under my danger level scanner ranker, Metroids are at the top. But you may be thinking: is it possible to tame such a deadly organism? The answer is-yes, in fact, there is. But only one way-the Mertonia Sphere. As the name suggests, it's a sphere, and the Mertonians created it by spilling the blood of the king Mertonian and a Metroid's core obtained from slitting it in half, then enwrapping the mixture in an extremely tough sort of glass-maybe diamond?-and then cursing it with a ritual the Mertonians use in their prayers to keep the Metroids away. The result is-the Mertonia Sphere, and what's funny is-it _actually works._ Yeah, if you are the user of this item, you can a) call a swarm of Metroids in to attack something you direct them to b) literally play a ventriliquist dummy routine with the Metroids, the Sphere being the strings, and the fact that the Metroids are still a symbiotic factor of the environment and c) use it in a mixture to create something even more powerful. That's about it on the Mertonia Sphere Instruction Booklet, but it returns as an annoyance that the Chozos cannot accept-it must be stopped. Of course, this isn't the first war the Mertonians did fighting the Chozos, but this may be the end-one of them is going to have to leave existence-_forever._

Did I get sidetracked? Sorry about that. The prologue of Metroid stories can be pretty long sometimes, including this one, in which is not over yet. Anyway, the Temple Grounds in the Chozo Kingdom on Zebes, the Dining Hall, to be more specific, is where I start.

"Attention! Attention! I have an announcement to make!" a raspy voice called out. The Chozos sat Indian style on their pillows, on the stone ground. The speaker was Naligna Iruti-the third official king of the Chozos. He had traveled to many planets built by the Chozo, but he was on Zebes, to help command the war against the Mertonians.

"This, as we may have all estimated, is the longest we have ever went without Mertonians invading an area on our planet," Iruti said. "I suggest we eat with caution, and prepare ourselves, in case the overgrown vermin return," he added. Iruti looked over at Kaarutin, my "dad".

"And I want you, Eneta, to eat quick, so you can go to your lab and get your potions ready afterwards," the king said, not quite as loud. Kaarutin nodded, and looked at his plate. Mmm, freshly chopped and cooked _Skree._ Just what Kaarutin wanted. You may be wondering why exactly I call him Kaarutin and Chunai Iruti (Chunai is Chozodian for "Ruler") calls him Eneta. If you've been paying attention, you'd see that his full name is Eneta Kaarutin, and he is the master shaman. Only royalty is allowed to call him Eneta-to show respect, those of the Chozos who are not of the royal line are authorized to only call him Kaarutin. And, harsh this will sound, if you call royalty by their first name-part in their presence or in the presence of another royal Chozo, you will be beaten with no mercy. And you just heard me jibber-jabber about how wonderful they are. In the Gre, the Chozodian Bible, that is the punishment for such disrespectful behavior. The Chozos were polytheistic-they believed in many gods. Of course, I was in the Chozodian faith until I joined the Galactic Federation. Then I became Christian. But enough blab about religion-I have a story to tell. Anyway, Kaarutin used his manners as he ate the Skree. He picked it up and chomped it quickly, just as Chunai Iruti had ordered. Kaarutin finished, and stood up. Since he was a part of the royal branch, he had no reason to excuse himself. That's another thing listed in the Gre: royalty doesn't have to excuse theirself. It's not a commandment, and it's not manditory, but most royal Chozos take advantage of it. Which the Gre doesn't disallow. Kaarutin started striding out of the Dining Hall's west exit, and entered a hallway. After looking around and seeing the many potteries Chozos hand-craft, Kaarutin exited into a different corridor. This corridor was a moderately large room, and it had a balcony, in which Kaarutin stood on, that overlooked a pool. Stairs led off the balcony, and Kaarutin walked off. He set foot into the water and waded slowly through the shallow pool. Across the pool was a platform that Kaarutin climbed himself onto. Kaarutin, although the second official shaman, therefore very old, was extremely nimble. He was a skinny Chozo with a large brain focused on alchemy and rituals. He was intelligent-probably the most intelligent of all Chozos. Even the Chunai of Zebes couldn't outrank Kaarutin's intelligence. And yet Kaarutin is pushed around by Iruti, all because Iruti is the royal bloodline of the Chozo. Kaarutin had lived ever since the second Zebesian Chunai had ruled-Jutana Iruti. It was then he was taught as an apprentice by Frelu Jena, the previous master shaman. Unfortunately, war had sent Jena to Refal, the Chozo's version of Heaven. So Kaarutin took his place. Anyway, Kaarutin pulled himself up effortlessly, despite his age, and walked to the arch that led to a hall. He walked down the hall to see his apprentice, Hugan Eloia. Eloia ran to Kaarutin and accidentally bumped into him-the clumsy fool. Eloia was a Chozo more on the pudgy side, and he wore a black robe. He had a beak many times larger than Kaarutin's, as if he resembled an oversized and tanned toucan. Kaarutin merely helped Eloia up.

"You need to pay attention, Hugan," Kaarutin said. Eloia brushed himself off and shrugged slightly. Kaarutin looked behind Eloia at the lab door-it had a green aura flowing out of it.

"I'm terribly sorry, Master Kaarutin," Eloia said, embarrassed, and bowed to Kaarutin.

"What is going on in the lab, Hugan?" Kaarutin asked Eloia. Eloia jumped with excitement slightly, eager to tell Kaarutin.

"I have been working on something," Eloia replied. "Come, let me show you!"

Kaarutin nodded and pointed at the lab's archway entrance. Eloia turned around and waddled down the hall and turned into the lab. Kaarutin followed, sighing and shaking his head. They had walked into the lab-which may I add looked nothing like a scientist's laboratory on Earth. It was tan stone walls, tan stone floor, moss spread across the ground. Okay, I may be describing the whole temple, so let me get into details. The lab had tan stone shelves lined with potions in beakers, many high-tech computers were connected to the stone walls. But there was one more thing that had been added, and Kaarutin hadn't seen it before. It was a red helmet with a green visor. It also had some yellow shoulder pads to go with it, and the torso area of the thing (because it looked in the shape of an erect organism) was red on top and had a curve that went in that led to yellow. Kaarutin was...impressed, if that's what you want to call the look on his avian face.

"Hugan...what is this?" Kaarutin asked, walking up and feeling the object. Eloia thought for a moment before he spoke.

"It is a suit. I developed the model off of hieroglyphs," Eloia replied. Kaarutin looked over at Eloia, face now serious.

"And you hadn't had a single intention to inform me?" Kaarutin asked, sounding serious. Eloia looked a little scared. "This is genius!" he exclaimed, and Eloia looked excited again.

"The shape is perfect, the size is built for a Chozo, and it may turn out to be the greatest defense mechanism against the rats of Kruralla!" he said, describing the suit. "Now all we have to do is complete the finishing touches, which will only take about..."

"A few centuries," Eloia interuppted.

"Whaaat?" Kaarutin squawked, stumped.

"It will take a few centuries to even reach halfway through the project, Master," Eloia said regretfully. Kaarutin stomped the ground. Then he calmed himself.

"Well, at least we'll all be alive by then unless the Mertonians wipe us from existence," Kaarutin mumbled. Eloia shrugged.

"I think this is a matter the Chunai should sort out. About the Mertonians," Eloia said. Kaarutin nodded and left the lab. Eloia stared at the suit for a moment, and left as well.

That's another thing about Chozos-they have a large life span in which lasts maybe three milenniums. Maybe because they are so intertwined with nature-though not _all _Chozo are on the side of good, or as sane as you'd expect at first glance. Read _The Appokal Chronicles_ under (Ultimate Ridley's) Favorite Stories to learn about a crazed Chozo mad scientist.

In the throne room, Kaarutin kneeled to Chunai Iruti, and Iruti asked if the Chozo's defenses were ready.

"Yes, Chunai," Kaarutin replied, and Eloia came in slowly and kneeled.

"Good," Chunai Iruti said, and clapped his hands twice. The torches on the tan stone walls of the throne room lit on fire. Kaarutin raised his arms and waved them in a strange motion, and the two sacred torches on both sides of the Chunai's throne lit with green fire. Iruti nodded, and Kaarutin walked over to extract a green flame. He picked it out, not being burned, and waved his other hand over the harnessed flame, in the shape of an orb. The fire grew brighter green gradually, and eventually there was a large flash that surrounded the throne room. The flash nearly blinded the Chunai, but Kaarutin stood there. Eloia made a startled leap. Eventually the flash ended, and the Chunai uncovered his face.

"Now are we protected against Mertonian forces?" Iruti asked. Kaarutin half-nodded, which made the Chunai frown. Kaarutin read Iruti's face, and started to explain.

"That sphere controls the life-drainers, and the life-drainers are capable of countering next to all Chozodian defense alchemy," Kaarutin said. "In fact, Hugan here has started on a prototype suit that can withstand the vile creatures for just a tad longer than being bare," he added. The Chunai looked at Eloia, who blushed kind of.

"Show me." Kaarutin nodded, and walked back to his lab, Eloia following behind him. In the lab, Kaarutin put the helmet on his head. He set the torso onto his, and put the legs on. The suit was extremely under-developed. But it was a last resort. Kaarutin returned to the Chunai, and the Chunai looked impressed.

"Amazing!" he exclaimed. "Show me how it works." Kaarutin nodded, and lifted his right arm at a Zoomer that was crawling on the wall, who had apparently found its way in there as well. The gun shape pulled back about two inches while simultaneously a small yellow ball shape fired in a straight line, and hit the Zoomer. The Zoomer exploded as a result.

"This is genius, Hugan!" Iruti said to Eloia. "Is there a way we can multiply these and epuip our soldiers with them?" Kaarutin paused and looked a little embarrassed. He looked over at Eloia, who apparently, judging by the look on his avian face, was embarrassed as well. "What is it?"

"Unfortunately, Chunai Iruti, there is not a way to duplicate this suit without it taking many generations..." Kaarutin said regretfully. This was a huge thing-each generation for the Chozo was, like, two or three thousand years. That would mean many generations would be, like, four hundred thousand years. No one even knows if the universe will be under partial peace by that time, or any peace at all.

"All we can do is improve it. That should only take a few centuries," Kaarutin added. Chunai Iruti looked disappointed. He set his arm down onto the arm of his throne.

"Very well. Get to improving," Iruti said. "And don't take all millenia."

**Planet Zebes, Year 2212, Chozodia**

It's been two hundred and one years. The suit has been improving since-except now the helmet is bigger, and more easily fits a Chozos head-it looked like a royal crown. Kaarutin had been ready for combat, with his staff that could perform natural arts. Eloia had to stay back-over two centuries he hasn't lost too much weight. Nor clumsiness. The Mertonians were coming. But, then what happened to the suit? Eloia's son, Gyuta Eloia, had been trained for the past century in learning how to fight fair, and to only fight when fought upon. He was the strongest and fairest fighter of all Zebesian Chozos. So he got the suit. Of course, "fair" is a word the Mertonians don't know the meaning of, unless you are referring to a carnival like event on their planet where the leader controls a Metroid into ripping out someone's brain-and everyone watches, even the little infants whose parents had enough heart to keep them. Which was rare. In fact, the Mertonians were probably the only creatures in the universe to enforce life isn't fair. Even if they don't follow that rule. Kaarutin was standing on a piece of carved stone, looking out a glassless window. He was noble and ready to fight. Behind him, Gyuta, and behind Gyuta, an army of well-trained Chozos with less improved suits. Kaarutin looked out.

"Master Kaarutin, if you die, what should I do?" Gyuta asked Kaarutin as a last minute question. Kaarutin barely turned his head around.

"If I die, it is up to your father to be the greatest shaman Zebes has seen," Kaarutin replied. Gyuta wasn't sure of the answer, but nodded in agreement. Kaarutin jumped, startled.

"What is it?" Gyuta asked. Kaarutin shivered a second, and looked out the glassless window. A huge black ship with crimson red windows had hit the ground of Zebes. They had arrived.

"It's time," Kaarutin replied, looking at Gyuta with only his head; his body was facing the window. Gyuta signaled to the army and they all herded out to the entrance in which the Mertonians would bust the door down. Gyuta, before taking off with his great avian speed, took another step closer to Kaarutin.

"Are you sure...that you are going to be okay, old bird?" he asked Kaarutin. Kaarutin knew he was simply joking at "old bird" and smiled.

"Yes," Kaarutin replied. "Now go." Gyuta backed away backwards, and when he reached the stairs, he took off running. Kaarutin reached over and pressed a button. The stone that surrounded the window silently retreated inward, leaving an open passage for Kaarutin to walk through. He grabbed the ledge below him, and jumped off, hanging. (Note from U.R.: Those people who didn't watch the Metroid anime type movie, showing what happened during Samus's early childhood, Chozos can't fly although they're a bird race; they lost use of their wings millions of years ago due to lack of predators) Kaarutin jumped off gracefully, avoiding all stones that were out of place. Ahead of Kaarutin was a cave. It had a door with an archway that looked like a bird's head. Kaarutin took off running, hoping that the Mertonians had never gone close. He got to the door and opened the hatch with his staff, and walked through. What happened next? The black ship could be seen about a mile away. Perfect. A stream of furry little things were bleeding from the ship's dock. Perfect again. They were heading for the entrance to the Chozodian Kingdom. Woo hoo! Three points for the Mertonians on making Kaarutin worry. But worry should be Kaarutin's smallest priority right now. He jumped off the ledge that went about one hundred feet downward and landed. Next to him, an extremely tall totem pole, about two hundred feet high, with a bird's head. The pole was raised, and the statue bird had many talons reaching out, holding multiple platforms, allowing the dumbest of prisoners to escape to the top even. And it was Kaarutin's job to seal the totem pole away, and protect the statue of the First Zebesian Chunai. If the Mertonians caught the statue, the First Chunai's spirit would wreak havoc. If a peaceful race, such as the Luminoth or Bryyonians, found this statue, the galaxy would be peaceful...too peaceful. If you think about it, if the universe was merely peace and nothing else, war would erupt in no time. That's just how it is.

In case you're wondering, the First Chunai is renowned as a Chozodian god now, named Bruyat Zebes, the god of settlement. Zebes was the Chozos' first settlement, and because it was so successful, they made the Chunai that lived then one of the most important gods to worship from the Gre. Then they went out to create Tallon IV. Kaarutin used his magic of nature to open a pathway into the dark and damp room, in which the statue of Zebes rests, and where the decomposed remains rest as well. To seal away the totem pole, not allowing anything to jump down without anything to do, Kaarutin had to not only dedicate his life to stay down here, but to offer something created by the Chozo and has great value. He saw the stone hands of Zebes, holding out, as if to give something or to recieve something. All Chozo statues did this. Kaarutin removed an orb from his shaman's gown and placed it onto Zebes's hands. The eyes of Zebes lit a bright yellow, and flashed amazingly with bright colors.

"Eneta Kaarutin..." a deep voice said from behind the lights.

"Bruyat Zebes, god of settlement. I, as many of us follow, worship you," Kaarutin said. He bowed to the statue.

"You have given me the orb that powers one's hands, allowing them to grip with all of their might on ledges," it said. "And you have dedicated your life to stay down here and protect the sealing of my spirit."

"Yes, Lord," Kaarutin replied. A huge boom shook the room, and Kaarutin jumped. "What could that have been?" Kaarutin asked.

"Who you and the rest of the Chozo are trying to destroy, yet avoid," the voice of Zebes said. Kaarutin looked extremely worried. Another Mertonian ship had landed where the totem pole should exist. If the totem pole was destroyed, then one could do nothing but search the wonders of Zebes's spirit.

"I instruct you to fight them," Zebes said. Kaarutin looked surprised.

"But, Lord, I cannot handle an army. The Chozodian army we have fighting I believe are struggling horribly against a different fleet," Kaarutin told the spirit.

"Think hard, Eneta. The power to wipe a species clean lies in this room," the spirit replied, and the eyes faded out. Kaarutin hit the ground, and two seconds later, slapped himself across the beak, because he had just realized that he punched where Bruyat Zebes's body lies. He staggered up, having trouble standing on two feet, and looked all around him. What could Zebes had meant about the power to wipe a species clean lies in this room? Kaarutin looked down at the ground. There was his staff of nature. Only problem was, the Mertonians could zap the staff out of Kaarutin's hand and murder him effortlessly, with their mega-advanced technology. So no, it wasn't the staff. Kaarutin heard a thump on the wall next to him, and a bunch of little pitiful sqeaks behind it. Mertonians. Kaarutin, worried, started to look even harder around the room. _Let's think, _he thought. _There is a prophecy in which never works once you use it. My staff is worthless when used upon the Mertonians..._

_Because your staff is primitive, Eneta. You need to infuse it with the power I speak of, _a voice telepathically trailed in Kaarutin's head. It was Zebes, helping Kaarutin comprehend the situation. That was probably minimal help, though. But, what could be ultimate power? Kaarutin then had it snap in his mind-the way it works for an experienced shaman-it was Zebes, and the other gods. How? The Dratan Gre was sitting over there. All Chozos know that the Dratan Gre was written by Dratan Hutar, the greatest Chozodian shaman to live, and Frelu Jena's mentor. Hutar had the ability to converse with any Chozodian god because of how strong his faith was. Because Hutar had such strong faith, he managed to rub his nature infused magic to a copy of the Gre he wrote before he moved on to Refal. A unique copy. There is only one Dratan Gre in the universe, and whoever touches the magical verse in which Hutar specified as most important of all, they gain a temporary ability to have the Chozodian gods on their side in combat. But right now, Kaarutin had not enough faith to gain this temporary ability. he had to mediatate.

Oh, yeah. That's really fun-Chozodian meditation. And I'm not sarcastically speaking. Seriously, if you do everything correctly, you can literally see into your future and the future of others you know now or will know later on in your life. It's complicated. But it feels good or bad, depending on the mood of the event crossed with your nature. What I mean is, if you're a peace lover, and see a disastrous event happen in the future during Chozodian mediatation, you're not going to be lovin' that vision, right? If you are a fool who lives on death and war, and it's your favorite thing to do, (in which I hope none of you that's the case) a disastrous vision will be a fun walk in the park for you. See? It's all common sense. But anyway, Kaarutin sat in meditation form. He worked his way into the perfect state of thought designed for the Chozodian meditation. Kaarutin thought hard. In his thoughts, a vision started. At first, it was dark, then he saw humans, on a friendly planet, of which he couldn't identify from here. He specifically saw a little blonde female human, who was astonished with his race. She was probably a toddler. He saw a quick glimpse of the little girl running off, and then the vision had a red aura. Blackish creatures were in this vision now, terrorizing the planet in which he saw the humans. The one that mainly caught his attention was a winged gargantuan. Just before he saw the gargantuan close in to a mature blonde, probably the smaller one's mother, Kaarutin noticed something-he was there, with two other Chozos-Eloia and Gyuta. They were reaching out to the little girl, and she accepted help. She cried. Just then, the winged creature had burned the older blonde to the ground. Nothing but ashes were left. Kaarutin snapped out of his vision, and felt a strong wave of faith pour over him. He reached into the Dratan Gre and searched for the one verse that Dratan Hutar crowned most important-the Chozodian Golden Rule. You know of it as treat others the way you want to be treated as the Golden Rule. And it was the Chozo's as well. It was just in a longer format in many large words normally only an intelligent Chozo can comprehend. Kaarutin ran a talon over it and closed his avian eyes, and spoke it out in Chozodian. Behind him, the thumping on the wall had gotten too large. The Mertonians busted the wall down, and Kaarutin had just finished his verse. An amazing blue light put the Mertonians in a weird position. Everyone knows rodents get entranced by pretty lights. Practically the whole rat-human army had one decision to make: "Should we kill our rival or enjoy pretty lights?" Kaarutin was lucky they all decided the second choice. The blue light had shone the whole time, and Kaarutin levitated high into the air, just high enough to not bump into the ceiling. His eyes were red, and his staff was in his hands. Out of nowhere, spirits of gods and previous shamans flooded out of the walls and ground, filling into the staff Kaarutin wielded. This dazzled the Mertonians even more. The last spirit to enter Kaarutin's staff of nature was Zebes's.

"You found it, Eneta. I am so proud of you," the spirit said before it filled in. Kaarutin landed, the blue light still shining, and slammed his staff into a small hole that appeared there over time. A blue shock lit the ground, and the Mertonians were sent back. Every single one that had stood on the stone floor just turned to bone, and all the others that lacked a great mental capacity were forcibly sent down to jump off the unsurvivable cliff to jump off of by the Chozodian gods. Kaarutin knew there was only one left-the shaman. The light disappeared, and this did not alter the Mertonian shaman's brain at all-he wasn't affected by the light to begin with.

"You are disastrous," it said to Kaarutin, and the Mertonian shaman dodged a quick swing from his staff.

"Your race is disastrous," Kaarutin retorted. The Mertonian shaman ignored this smart-mouthed remark.

"All we are trying to do is kill you hippies so we can rule the universe. That's all," the shaman said, smiling. Kaarutin hissed like a hawk and shot a ball of energy at the Mertonian shaman. The Mertonian shaman got hit and flew back to the ground.

"That's a little too much," Kaarutin said. He walked to the back of the ship that had landed ten minutes ago. The shaman looked up and was watching what Kaarutin was doing.

"What are you going to do? Murder me? Not very nature-loving, if you ask me," the shaman said.

"I didn't ask you. Nor ever will I," Kaarutin said, pulling a purple sphere from the back of the ship. "But killing you will help put the galaxy at peace. You abuse nature too much. And the only way to stop you...is by killing you," he added. The shaman was freaking out. He couldn't move because of the energy ball's force, though.

"Put that thing back! It's unstable!" the Mertonian shaman commanded. Kaarutin motioned it towards the human-like rodent, and the rat started to shake crazily. "No! Stop! You'll kill us both!" it said. But it was too late. One levitating bulb with meatballs inside floated out. It had fangs poking out of its bottom, and it looked hungry. Kaarutin motioned the orb towards the Mertonian shaman again, and the thing screeched, followed by a quick dash through the air. The thing lowered its fangs closer to the shaman's head, but the shaman weakily held it back for one second, to say his last words.

"Clever, but not original, Eneta. I will die by the fangs of a Metroid, and I hope you take the same fate on Kruralla, as you attempt to slay our king," the shaman said, and let go. The Metroid sank its fangs into the cranium of the rat, and you could hear a slurping noise. The Metroid was draining the life of the Mertonian. Blood trickled from beneath the Metroid, and Kaarutin let the Metroid savor its last meal before he ordered it to commit suicide, just to keep the rest of the Chozo safe. What's horrible about a Metroid is, they suck out your life, and until they are done, you feel excruciating pain to no end. When they are done, all pain you have felt will disappear, and you will move on to the afterlife(s) your religion offers. Probably the least pleasant death you'd wish to take on and accept. The waving arms of the Mertonian shaman dropped, and Kaarutin motioned the Metroid off. He walked up and looked at the heavily bleeding skull of the rat. No brain. That raised the question: did the Metroid remove anything from the skull? (That was a joke, get it?) Kaarutin told the Metroid to go commit suicide with the sphere, and it did so. (How stupid are they?) Kaarutin knew one thing, however: this should have been the end of the war, but it was only the end of another pointless battle. Or was it pointless? Because, after all, Kaarutin now has his hands on the Mertonia Sphere. So, I guess the battle wasn't entirely worthless. But what stinks is: Mertonians reproduce at a violently rapid rate. If the Chozo only kill the fleets that arrive, then the Mertonians will never be finished. The Chozo would have to go to Kruralla (SR388), the Metroid home planet, to end the war. Would the Mertonia Sphere be enough? Kaarutin didn't think so. Only the Chozodian gods know what those hellish rats have waiting for the Chozos. But it isn't going to be Metroids. Thank Zebes for the slightest trickle of incompetence the Mertonians have on making the Sphere. If it falls into the...er, _right _hands, then the Chozos have excellent guards-the Metroids. But then Kaarutin thought of something-the others! Were they safe? Did the Mertonians over there retreat? Only one way to find out without activating the totem pole. Kaarutin entered the black with crimson tinted windshield and windows and hotwired it. He controlled the unstable ship upward, and felt horrible knowing that he was disobeying Chunai Iruti's words by leaving the spiritual chamber behind. Despite the Chunai's orders, Kaarutin found himself on the verge of finishing the Mertonians. I mean, finished as in once and for all. Kaarutin landed near the entrance to the temple. Not many Mertonians were left, and only about four Chozos died KIA in this battle. Kaarutin landed, and Gyuta freaked out. Just killing a rat, he dashed to the ship and readied his suit's gun. He charged a yellow shot, waiting for whatever had to come out. The ship's door opened, and as soon as Gyuta saw a blackish silhouette, Kaarutin was on the sandy ground, bleeding. He had been shot in the arm.

"By Tallon!" Gyuta cried, displeased with himself. He ran over to Kaarutin, and tried to hold him up. "I am sorry, Yutano Kaarutin," Gyuta said. Yutano is Chozodian for master shaman. Kaarutin reached out and grabbed Gyuta's shoulder softly.

"Gyuta Eloia...it is not your fault. You saw the blackness, and were only trying to protect yourself. If I was a Mertonian, you would have done what's right. That's all that matters," Kaarutin struggled to say proudly. Gyuta was still worried.

"You need a visit to the infirmary," Gyuta said.

"That would be nice..." Kaarutin trailed off, and got a little woozy from blood loss. Gyuta started running into the temple, when he caught a Chozo soldier glaring at him.

"It was an accident!" Gyuta said.

"It's not that. It's...you swore Tallon's name, and we live on Zebes," the soldier replied.

"It's not that big a dilemma!"

"If you're not religious it's not," the soldier retorted. Gyuta looked angry, but he carried Kaarutin past a bunch of Chozos in the temple, and into the infirmary.

"We have an emergency! We have an emergency!" Gyuta called out. The Chozo nurses and doctors acted quick, knowing it was a soldier who was asking, and the Yutano who was injured. They layed Kaarutin on a stone bed, and a male Chozo medical specialist examined the gunshot wound on Kaarutin's arm.

"How did this happen?" the doctor asked. Gyuta froze, just remembering what happened. He hesitated, and started to speak...

"Damn Mertonians," Kaarutin interrupted. "They just don't know when to stop firing, do they?" Gyuta looked partway relieved, and partway confused, because Kaarutin never defended someone in this sort of way-at least, none to non-royalty. Gyuta had no reaction other than to leave for now.

Two days later, Gyuta returned to the infirmary. He came to visit Kaarutin, obviously.

"He's better," the doctor said. "All he needs is to be bandaged up. You can say hello if you wish." Gyuta nodded and walked over to the casted Kaarutin. Kaarutin turned over to his other side to look at Gyuta.

"It wasn't your fault," he whispered so only Gyuta could hear. But that didn't cheer Gyuta up. He was still worried.

"We found this," a Chozo nurse said, holding up a dark-purple orb that looked like it had clouds rolling in it. "Yutano Kaarutin was holding it, with the arm he wasn't shot in." Gyuta stared at the Mertonia Sphere in fear. _How did Yutano Kaarutin obtain such a death-causer? _Gyuta thought. Then he just remembered, he was staring mindlessly at it.

"Um, thank you. I will..." he looked at Kaarutin, who nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'll take that...death-causer," Gyuta said, and removed the Sphere from the Chozodian nurse's hand. The nurse stood up and walked out. Gyuta sat down next to Kaarutin.

"Show it to Chunai Iruti, but do not inform him of my injuries, or that I continue to exist outside of Zebes's temple. Tell your father the Mertonians struck me, not you. Am I clear, Gyuta?" Kaarutin said. Gyuta nodded, and left the room. A Chozo was watching, however, and then left. Kaarutin lay on his table, and thought hard. Mainly about the vision. What could it mean? Was it really going to happen? Not all meditation visions come true, you know. And, if the vision _will _happen, when? Not like it mattered. Kaarutin knew it would be for the greater good.

**Planet Kruralla (SR388), Year 2212, Mertonian Throne Room**

"Why has not either fleet returned?" the Mertonian king asked, enraged. "Where is my shaman?" he added acidly.

"Grua, I'm not sure!" the king's squire replied, almost as acidly. "I had never visited Zebes in my whole life! I wouldn't have a clue on whether the fleets have been slaughtered by the Chozo, or had started a new colony!"

"They better have not!" the king retorted. "Or I'll have that Sphere in my grasp, letting the Metroids drain energy from both of those miserable colonies!" The squire froze a moment.

"Grua, the only problem with that...er, wonderful and well thought out plan, is the shaman took the Sphere with him," he said.

"I know that!" The Grua thundered. "And so, I wish for the greatest warrior we have to collect seven of his experienced rats, and quietly invade and investigate the planet those dumbstruck birds thrive on!" the Grua said. "That's an order to be told," he whispered. The squire nodded, and left the room. The Grua looked out the nearest window, with his levitational chair. He saw his great kingdom of rats, a very high-tech city. Higher tech than the imbeciles that were the Chozo, and that pleased the Grua. But one thing didn't-his superb rat sense of smell and common sense had told him something bad happened to the Mertonia Sphere, and I mean bad in the Mertonians' terms. If the Sphere was in the hands of the Chozo, then the Mertonians were screwed as a race, since the Metroids go back to their creepy, murderous selves without a thing to command them. That meant mayhem on SR388. The Grua punched the amethyst wall next to him, and a voice came from behind him.

"You signaled?" it said, very deep for a rat.

"Yes," the Grua said, and started laughing maniacally. Once again with the mental issues.

**Planet Zebes, Year 2212, Chozodian Throne Room**

Chunai Iruti was angered, and glared at Kaarutin. Kaarutin then glared at Gyuta. Gyuta looked embarrassed, and from looking out the corner of his eye, he saw a Chozo in the doorway, and it seemed to giggle. When Gyuta looked at the doorway, the tan Chozo slipped out of sight. Oh, wait. Gyuta remembered that soldier. The one that wouldn't tolerate the swearing of Tallon's name as they lived on Zebes. _He is going to be executed when Chunai Iruti finds out he tattled, _Gyuta thought, and looked back at Kaarutin's glare. Gyuta shrugged, and Kaarutin turned his head to face the Chunai, his eyes not leaving Gyuta until he directly faced Chunai Iruti. One more thing-in the Gre, a major commandment is to not tattle. Tattling is childish, and rude. And most definitely not dealt with in a calm method.

"Eneta, would you mind explaining why you have avoided the words of Zebes, let alone me?" Chunai Iruti asked. Kaarutin took a quick glare at Gyuta.

"He ordered me to leave him," Kaarutin answered.

"Likely," Iruti retorted, obviously being facetious. "And, mind telling me how you managed to get the Sphere that controls the life-drainers?"

"The way he got it does not matter! He retrieved it, and that should be good enough for you!" Gyuta yelled, tearing. Chunai Iruti had flames in his eyes.

"I believe you, son of Hugan Eloia, have absolutely no correct and untwisted right to defend your...victim," the Chunai asked. Gyuta sat down, but you could tell he was nearing the level to burst into uncontrollable rage. Which would be bad. But he stayed cool.

"I think your father would have just dropped this problem," Kaarutin told the Chunai. Kaarutin had also served Iruti's father. And to Kaarutin, Iruti II was a ton better at reasoning and negotiation. Now, Naligna Iruti is Chunai, the third of Zebes. And he wasn't very forgiving.

"I would rather you leave my fool of a father out of this," Iruti said. But you could tell he was pissed. You should have seen his face.

"I am going to return to my duties. My old duties. Clearly you have not appointed Eloia as the new shaman quite yet, nor a replacement apprentice. So, I leave," Kaarutin said authoratatively, and walked out. Gyuta followed behind pretty quickly. Chunai Iruti slammed a fist down onto the stone. _Things will sort out just fine, _he then thought, At least, he hoped so.

"Hello, Chunai," a deep voice said. He turned around to see a well-armoured rat, armed with a deadly plasma beam. Behind the rat were six others, not as well-armoured but still had the potential to freak someone out. Take Chunai Iruti for instance. The Chunai passed out onto the tan stone floor, and dropped the Mertonia Sphere. At sight of what it was, the Mertonian picked it up. "Not a well-thought out security system, eh?" the armoured rat laughed. So did the other six.

"That was too easy. Grua's going to be pleased," the rat added. As the rat turned around, a large ball of green light shot through his back. The rat gasped, and fell to the floor. He hadn't expected Eneta Kaarutin to crash this invasion, already healed from the wound, thanks to his avian healing speed. The orb rolled on the ground, and as Kaarutin tried to catch it, the rats dashed for it as well.

"What did our race do to yours to make you despise us so?" Kaarutin asked, still running.

"I'm not exactly sure," one rat warrior said.

"I think it ties with the whole nature thing. Hey! You foolish birds love that crap, don't you?" another rat said. They all collided, four of the rat warriors hitting the wall, and the other two keeping consciousness. Kaarutin had his staff raised, ready to cast another spell.

"Crap," a warrior said. Kaarutin was disgusted with this seemingly foul language the rats were using. He hadn't a clue what "crap" meant. Most likely some type of slang the Mertonians invented to spice up the English language. It didn't matter, though. Kaarutin shook the ground beneath the two rats, and all that did was knock them off their feet. Not too helpful. They got back up to their feet, only to see Kaarutin holding the Mertonia Sphere up proudly in one hand, his staff of nature in the other. He motioned the orb towards the rat warriors, useless as that may seem, and guess what? Nothing happened. Duh. You're on Zebes, not SR388. So, he waited for the nasty little rats to try and retrieve the Sphere. Their little friends recovered, and the six dashed at Kaarutin, before they saw his beak move.

"Now," he seemed to say. The Mertonian warriors were wondering what he was going to do, but, in truth, he wasn't going to do anything. Nope. Gyuta would. Gyuta Eloia, equipped with the suit, started shooting at the human sized armoured rats that ran on two legs. Kaarutin could swear he saw one Mertonian hit the floor hard, bleeding. But the other five started to ignore Kaarutin, who happened to have the artifact that will please the Mertonian warriors' king, the Grua, and started to shoot at Gyuta. Kaarutin guessed it was just a priority type of thing. Kill the threat first, retrieve the artifact second. Kaarutin managed to slam the head of his spear into the skull of one soldier, and the soldier appeared to have died. But you don't have your guarantees. Especially since the leader of the seven warriors got back up and tried to hit Kaarutin, and failed, of course, because of Kaarutin's avian radar. Good thing the Chozos hadn't lost that avian capability, unlike use of wings. The leader swung another failing attempt, and simply started to pull out its laser gun. Kaarutin had to act quick-now. Let Gyuta worry of the other six-the leader was all Kaarutin's. Kaarutin readied a spell, but the leading warrior interrupted the progress line of charging it by kicking Kaarutin hard in the side. Kaarutin had his breath knocked away, and he fell to the floor. The leading warrior picked up the Mertonia Sphere as Kaarutin staggered himself upward onto his feet. He reached his long, skinny leg out and tripped the rat. The leading warrior Mertonian hit the floor face flat pitifully. And, once again, the Mertonia Sphere hit the floor as well, starting to roll. The leading warrior's pink rodent nose with whiskers surrounding it started to bleed, because the impact of his face flat fall bent his rat snout backwards. Ouch. That may have hurt, but it wasn't enough to kill this rat. He stood up, straightened his snout out, and took out a chemical gun. Kaarutin leaped back extremely hard and far in surprise. Instinct. The most wonderful thing to have. Gyuta stepped to stand next to Kaarutin, for he had finished all the other rats. The leader shot a pound of toxic chemicals from his gun, and Kaarutin jumped back as Gyuta followed suit. Some chemical scraped Gyuta's suit, but good thing the suit was designed for extra protection. Kaarutin fired a different spell at the warrior rat that sent it out the window behind the throne. Too bad for the warrior rat, the throne room reached about half a mile into the sky. So, the two fighting Chozos got lucky. _Extremely _lucky. Not many Chozos fight one Mertonian warrior and live to tell the tale, let alone six with one elite warrior. Kaarutin felt relieved. So did Gyuta. Now, it was time to relax. Or was it? Chunai Iruti forced himself up, recovering from unconsciousness. He almost entered shock when he saw the armoured, human sized rat bodies on the floor. And then he remembered them.

"You have saved the kingdom of Chozodia once again," he said. "Forget your penalties."

**Planet Kruralla (SR388), Year 2212, Mertonian Palace**

"Terrible. Just terrible," the Grua said, looking out the passing windows. He saw his rat people running in circles as Metroids slowly sank their fangs into one's head. It was a disgusting and gruesome sight.

"Grua! The Mertonia Sphere..." the squire panted. The Grua looked at the squire.

"Spit it out!" he commanded.

"The Mertonia Sphere...is in the Chozos' hands...I learned of it through the interplanetary messenger," the squire said. The Grua grew enraged.

"Whaaat?" he yelled. "This makes things worse! The Chozos are merely two steps away from killing us all!" he screamed in his rat voice. "Then they will win the war!"

"There is truly nothing we can do, Grua. We are worthless now. The rat warriors perished. The Mertonia Sphere is in the wrong hands..."

"Don't rub it in!" the Grua snapped. "Our only chance now, is to wait. They're planning to invade us, or rather, they should be," the Grua yelled. After a quote like that, all the squire could leave was a useless comment, which the Grua hates. So, why bother?

**Planet Zebes, Year 2213, Chozodian Decks**

It had just turned Year 2213. It was two days ago in which the Mertonian warriors were defeated. So, literally, it was a new year. It was also time to invade SR388, to stop the Mertonians finally. Once and for all. On the plus side, the Chozos had the Mertonia Sphere. They could control the Metroids at will. Then again, that warrior battle was pretty rare to win for a Chozo. Kaarutin could have died. Gyuta had a higher chance of surviving. And yet, right now, they sit at the decks, waiting for a ship to be ready for takeoff into space. The exact same two Chozos that were extremely lucky to survive that. Whew, I bet they were thrilled. Time for war. Though war was pretty much all the two of them recieved for about the last week. At least it would end soon. Hopefully.

The ship took off and started flaring itself towards SR388. The most dangerous planet the Chozos have bothered to share technologies with. Another reason the Mertonians hated the Chozos was because the Chozos have a tendancy to share ideas and ways of life with more primitive species, and, you see, the Mertonians appear to be more intelligent, because they never spent time on nature or any kind of crap like that. Or, the Mertonians categorized it as crap. But the Chozo, although not as technology efficient, were still superior in one way-the Chozodian spirits. The one weapon Chozos have that no reported species could overrun. Of course, the Mertonians were probably one of the few species that ever called war on the Chozos. There had only been, oh, two others that ever posed a war threat. I think we all know who I'm talking about. One of them is-yes, Space Pirates. Space Pirates were interstellar nomads that went on killing sprees all the time. More info in Chapter 2.

**Planet Kruralla (SR388), Year 2213, Forests of Mertonia**

The ship docked on a giant tree branch. Strangely enough, the planet of SR388 was more wondrous than Zebes on the surface. It actually had lush green plant life just blooming everywhere. It is way more luxurious, that is, if life sucking organisms hadn't roamed the whole freaking planet, draining an undetected life source from innocent creatures. And that the Chozo Kingdom was actually pretty nice. Like a vacation world. Hundreds of Chozo soldiers jumped off the ships, which were slightly bird-shaped. Kaarutin and Gyuta were on separate ships, but with the great teamwork they knew they could share, nearly all the other Chozos knew they were going to meet. They were nearly unbeatable. But, unfortunately, their Chozo Squadrons were different, so, apparently, that team dream is gone. But, Kaarutin can do well himself, and same with Gyuta. Kaarutin was headed for the king, and Gyuta Eloia was headed for the main city's defenses, with the Mertonia Sphere in hand. Other armies were sent to slaughter Mertonians in a quick ritual sort of way, so they do not disobey the Gre. First, I will go to Kaarutin's side of the mission, and switch to Gyuta and/or the armies.

**SR388-Mertonian Plains**

After a quick dash away from the trees in the forest, Kaarutin had reached the plains of Mertonia. Ahead of him, perhaps ten miles away, was the main city of Mertonia. Kaarutin was in his job alone, while the others had backup. If Kaarutin could have the nice suit wearer with him, that'd be great, especially since he had just improved the suit, so it could have one more function of many more adding functions-the Maru Mari, or Chozodian for Morph Ball. The ability to roll into a sleek looking sphere that could reach into tight places. A great feature. The Mertonians most likely never thought of it. (Now you people know what the suit is if you hadn't a clue already) Kaarutin was dashing at raptor speed, for his skinny bones and light but strong muscles allowed him to run at about, oh, the speed of a cheetah. Kaarutin wasn't the only one to run this fast. It was a common feature on Chozos. But he couldn't run faster than Gyuta-without the Power Suit on, that bird was lightning. Especially in comparison with his father, those who haven't read above, who is Kaarutin's apprentice. Since his father is an obese avian. But he was still admirable, at least. Everyone liked Hugan Eloia, Gyuta's father. No matter how clumsy he was. Anyway, Kaarutin ran too fast-he had already realized the Mertonians had guard defenses set up at the city's main gate. Isn't it just perfect the Chozos lost their wings? (Sarcasm used) Kaarutin, in response to the defenses, quickly turned sharply, behind a great bush. Metroids were floating above the city. And Gyuta had the Mertonia Sphere. Perfect. The guards were mechanoids, not actual living creatures. So the Metroids could do nothing. To the guards, I mean. Kaarutin silenced the guards with a spell, and used a Chozo-only form of mind control to force the guards to open the ceretan metal gate. The gate opened, and Kaarutin ran in.

**SR388-Forests of Mertonia**

As Kaarutin puts himself in the tough position of the Mertonian city, what was Gyuta assigned to do? Investigate the deeper reaches of the Forests of Mertonia. He had the Sphere. He had to find the Metroid Hive, so he could control the Omega Metroid. At least that's what he thought it was called. He'd control the Omega Metroid, to smash the Kingdom of Mertonia. Anyway, Gyuta had jumped onto a tree, with ten other soldiers. The tree, as you may have read, was gargantuan. Just like its brothers. All trees lined in these forests were near the same size, if not bigger nor smaller by just a few inches. He jumped up onto a hulking branch, and ran down it into a hole. Mertonians made many refuges in the trees. But this one was...abandoned. Nothing much-just caveman like drawings. Funny, isn't it? I mean, how the Chozo aren't as technologically advanced as the Mertonians, yet they draw and paint a ton better. Maybe you don't have to be intelligent at all to paint well. No offense, on the off chance that offended someone. But Gyuta had found something in his suit's scanner: these drawings weren't ancient. They were drawn, oh, maybe a centicycle ago. ("Cycle" in my universe is another word for "year") That's not really long, especially since a centicycle is only a small fraction of a Chozo's life, unless they die prematurely from another cause. Gyuta had to check this out. He motioned to the other soldiers, and they ran deeper into the tree, in hope to reach the other side. In this way, they use less energy by running though than around the colossal tree. He stared at the drawings for another split second, and followed behind. The depictions really had no purpose. I mean, it just showed a few rats fighting. But anyway.

**SR388-Uncharted Swamp **(As in, uncharted by the Chozos)

A Chozo soldier took one step closer, and quickly drew his foot back, algae and other swamp gunk. He looked at his feet and formed an imaginary trail from his feet to straight across from him. No change in the ground, it seemed. Where he stood was solid and barely damp, aside from the wetness he brought in with his foot. But if he took only one step, his foot would sink into liquid. Strange. Hopefully it was just filthy water, and not quicksand. For filthy water would merely make him dirty, and hygiene is a low priority in war. Still a priority, but low. At least for the Chozo. _Well, _the Chozodian soldier thought. _At least I have no worry of thirst. _The soldier thought for a moment what to do. His fellow soldiers had left him behind on accident in the forests, and now he was here, in a large swamp. It felt like exility. But he had to press on, so he looked to his sides, scanning the willows for vines he could swing. No dice. There were vines, but all were either too short or too weak. The Chozodian soldier had no other choice-he had to wade across the water. He set foot in the swampy, muddy water, and strode forward slowly. He wasn't sinking, and he could move his legs. Now his last worry was predatorial vulnerability and parasitic organisms, i.e. Metroids could lurk anywhere. The soldier finally managed to work his way out to the other side of the swamp, slowly. His motive to cross? He believed that the Mertonian base he was aiming for lies beyond the road less traveled. And hopefully we could all agree a nasty swamp like this on SR388 was not traveled on often if at all by intelligent civilization. Because few intelligent organisms were absent-minded of the Metroids' presence. And those who were rarely left SR388 alive. The soldier looked down, and brushed off some harmless little insectoids that decided to cling on him in the water, and he kept walking. His foot brushed against something, and the Chozodian soldier looked down immediately. It was...a Chozo sign. Alarmed, he reached down and brushed the muddy stone off. It was a tablet. No-it was bigger. What the soldier was standing on was another Chozodian Kingdom. But how? Did the Chozos create SR388 as well? It was possible, and the soldier brushed the whole thing off. He read it, and squinted as he read. It was Ancient Chozodian, a language similar to modern Chozodian, just a tad harder to read. He examined it, realizing this fact, and could only make out a few words:

Chozo

Kruralla

Yutano

Jena

Life-drainers

Created

Failure

Abandoned

The soldier made these few words out, trying to piece them together. This was extraordinarily odd. The Chozos never made a settlement on SR388...or did they? The Chozodian soldier wasn't sure. If they did, then most likely Yutano Kaarutin or Chunai Iruti would never tell. Maybe because it would cause a case of pandemonium to be spread across the Chozos of Zebes. But the soldier now knew, if it was true, that is. He then had a theory snap into his mind. Maybe...before Yutano Jena had died...before Kaarutin was born, Jena and Jutana Iruti considered creating Kruralla...then they had built a civilization, but needed a special guard. So, they bred the horrid life-drainers, hopefully making the greatest guard to ever live. And it worked. But the life-drainers only protect themselves unless the Sphere Wielder appears. _It all makes sense, _the Chozodian soldier thought. _The life-drainers were murderous failures. But they were bred by the Chozo...And the Chozo left due to their horrid nature...Then the Mertonians come along...and they develope a way to defend theirselves from the terrible organisms, _the Chozo thought. He stood up, and looked ahead. Yeah, he was in a Chozodian Kingdom. _On SR388._

**SR388-Forests of Mertonia**

The weirdest thing had happened to Gyuta Eloia. He and the eleven-troop elite army behind him merely walked deeper into the tree, and they fell into a pitfall. And it was suspicious. The pitfall was almost a perfect sphere shape in radius-nature doesn't work that way. Gyuta and his elite soldiers had no clue what had happened-it was so sudden they fell in. And unexpected, obviously. What was going on? Gyuta heard some squeaking whoops and cheers. His scanners also were tingling with a small alarm that moderate or higher threat level ranked organisms were nearby. It hadn't said critical threat level, so it wasn't a Metroid at least. And it was obvious it wasn't a Metroid since Metroids screech annoyingly while the noise he was hearing was like...a primitive cheering. He looked up. Arrowheads were being waved around, and they were the only parts visible, except for the occasional brown stick pointing out. Kaarutin loaded a charged beam shot, and fired at the ceiling. The cheering stopped, and the creatures showed their face. _Oh, no, _Gyuta thought. The faces were furry, pink ears, small, pink nose with a snout that had whiskers. Mertonians. Primitive Mertonians? Most likely these human sized rodents were somehow isolated from the more intelligent branch of Mertonians. And maybe, instead of searching for the technological, mental capacity cutting civilization of Mertonians, they found this life more peaceful and fun. Hmmm. And yet they captured the Chozos mercilessly. Pretty strange.

**SR388-Nartoa**

Kaarutin had made it in. He quickly ran behind into a beautiful, colorful alleyway. (Of course the whole freaking city was colorful in the same way) He looked up and searched for Metroids, but there wasn't one floating up above. Suddenly he heard a squeal from around the corner, and took quick action into looking around just enough so he could see, but not vice versa in a Mertonian's point of view. A helpless Mertonian citizen was being consumed at by a Metroid. The rat was struggling on the ground, waving its limbs everywhere, as the horrid creature was extracting some undetected life-force from the citizen's head. For a second Kaarutin had felt sorry for that citizen, but he forgot about caring once he realized that the citizen was a Mertonian, too, just a few seconds later. Kaarutin waited for the Metroid to leave, and he ran out past into the streets of the Mertonian Kingdom. Hopefully, he wouldn't get caught.

**SR388-Uncharted Chozo Temple**

The soldier walked into the temple, astonished at the fact that maybe-just maybe-the previous generation, or during one of the many Chozodian generations before that, created the Metroids as guards, just guards that ran amok. Once you give it a second thought, and notice the ruins, it actually all makes sense. The soldier looked at the large temple ahead of him. He heard a screechy noise, and wondered what it was. He ran to a pillar, and started to check a compartment underneath it. He removed a large lid, and the screeching grew louder. He slipped his slim boned body into the hole, and he fell into a dark chamber beneath the pillar. Next to him, two metal poles and an unlit torch. He struck the poles over the torch. A spark set off and lit the torch. The screech set off somewhere again. The soldier looked one way, and saw nothing. It came from another direction, and he looked that way. Nothing. The screeching grew so loud and so annoying, the Chozodian soldier could barely take it. He gripped his head, trying to block out the horrid sound. But all that he felt after that was four sharp fangs sinking into his skull, and a few seconds after that, he felt nothing. He was dead. The fangs retracted theirself from the skull, and an extremely large Metroid showed itself. It was large beyond belief. Almost unimaginable. It flew over to a dimly lit room, surrounded by writings on the wall. Most likely Chozodian lore. On the ground, many carcasses were laying, lifeless. They, too, had four fang-marks in their skull. One other thing about Metroids-they get bigger, the more they drain.

**SR388-Forests of Mertonia**

Gyuta hadn't had time for this. He looked around for a chance to escape. The cheering continued on, and now stones were being thrown down at the twelve soldiers that included Gyuta. Gyuta fired his beam at the head of a Mertonian, and it fell to the ground. That went well. The others didn't care-they just kept throwing rocks. But then-something caught Gyuta's eye: a small hole. This was perfect! He could roll hisself out, and the others...would...have to...stay...So, there was a flaw in that plan, but what plan doesn't have a drawback?

"Soldiers," Gyuta said. The others turned to look at Gyuta, one getting struck in the head by a stone.

"Ow," the soldier murmured.

"I need to proceed in through that hole, to continue investigation," Gyuta said. "Maybe you all can crawl through, but I can't guarantee." The soldiers nodded, not really happy with Gyuta's decision. But it had to be done. His suit suddenly squeezed together into a small ball, and he rolled into the hole. The soldiers dropped to their knees, and attempted to crawl into the small passageway. Unfortunately, only five made it-the others were two hulking, so they had to stick to fighting the primitive Mertonians. What a job, eh?

* * *

**SR388-Unknown Facility**

Kaarutin had managed to navigate hisself around the city into a strange little warehouse. And it wasn't quiet in there, either. Horrible Mertonians existed in there. And they weren't unarmed-only Bruyat Zebes knew how, but these little freaks managed to forge humanoid technology. Maybe they've been to Earth colonies that exist on different planets? So, anyway, there was Kaarutin, surrounded by armoured soldier Mertonians, all pointing some humanoid-made firearm at him.

"Exit our planet, Chozo," a soldier with an assault rifle commanded. Most likely the leader. Kaarutin looked over at him, staff ready to fight.

"Why do you hate us like this?" he asked. That was like the third time he asked a Mertonian that question up close. Only this time, it was about twenty of them. At once. "Our colonies can simply ignore your race for the rest of eternity if that will end this war in a non-violent solution!" The assault rifle wielding rat looked to his side, at an understudy, then looked back at Kaarutin.

"It's not gonna be that easy, birdbrain. When we start a war, we finish it. _The hard way,_" the rat said. That kind of answer was one Kaarutin wouldn't dare to comprehend. Perhaps because it was a stupid reply.

"What is this warehouse good for?" Kaarutin asked.

"Not like we'll tell you. And, a better question would be, why did you come in here?" the rat asked. Kaarutin turned to face the lead rat.

"A bird's instinct never lets it resist wandering in an area it finds suspicious. Like this one, for example," Kaarutin retorted. The rat squeaked, and Kaarutin swore he could hear a faint order being whispered: "Fire at will."

Kaarutin jumped up high, about fourty-five feet in the air, and slammed his staff into the skull of a Mertonian soldier from coming down. It most likely hurt-you could tell from the momentum Kaarutin built from falling. The soldier squawked, and fell face flat on the floor, and his metal helmet knocked off. A big dent in its skull could be seen from the impact. Gunshots started to set off everywhere from all directions, and the noise annoyed Kaarutin's mega-sense of hearing most avians have. _Ow, _he thought. _How can humans stand this loud annoyance? _

**SR388-?**

Where is this? Gyuta was asking the exact same question. Where? Perhaps a description will cover it: Dark, creepy, dimly lit. Pretty much, Gyuta couldn't see anything, so those three words/phrases describe the place he was in well. He fired a quick beam, which lit the place for only about three seconds or less. But even that short a time period was fast enough for Gyuta to register the environment's attributes into his brain. Some sort of temple...Hm...

Gyuta heard a tiny screech. That alerted him. He turned around, looking at his surroundings, which was next to useless, hoping that the source was a really flashy organism or object. Even the slightest glimmer would send Gyuta into full alert. In which he saw a slight glimmer. Gyuta gulped.

"What was that?" he asked. No answer, except eventually there was a response.

"I'm not sure, but..." the voice was cut off. Gyuta started to sweat. He looked down, and walked forward. His avian radar told him when he was about to slam into a wall, so he dodged all pillars, which Gyuta was happy to know existed in the vicinity. He sensed heat on the other side of a wall, and he wondered how to get past it. He looked down, and rolled into the spherical shape that the Chozo called Maru Mari, but you people know of it as the Morph Ball. He slipped into a tunnel, just big enough for him, and started to roll down it. Eventually, he dropped out of a chute and into a room full of sand in it. He uncurled out of the Morph Ball and looked around. This room had a sunset aura-a torch was lit in one corner and stood tall. Gyuta heard a low rustling noise-it was coming from the next room over. He was about to proceed until something caught his eye on the walls of the room. Paintings. Paintings of birds-no, Chozo. Gyuta was puzzled at this sight. What did it mean? He tried to forget about the Chozo paintings-and moved on to the next room. Once he walked past the archway, he froze. He sensed heat, alright. But it wasn't from another Chozo. A giant, bulbous creature unplugged its fangs from the Chozo body it was on. Gyuta was startled at this. _That is one large Metroid, _he thought.

**SR388-Unknown Facility**

Kaarutin slammed his staff to the ground, and recited some enchantment that sent a blue wave out to the radius around him. The armoured Mertonian soldiers flew back, all still holding their triggers down. Some got up-and Kaarutin mentally laughed when he saw the look on the rat warriors' faces when the only noise their gun made was an annoying little _Click! _When it made that noise, lead pellets halted from coming out of the barrel. They were out of ammunition! A major drawback to humanoid firearms. Kaarutin went out towards the leader, who fought back. Kaarutin tried to shove the staff into the lead warrior rat's stomach, but the rat fought back by grabbing both ends of the staff. Now, they were shoving it towards each other. Kaarutin finally recited an enchantment that shot the rat back into a box. That would've knocked it unconscious. Which it did. All the other rats were either on the ground, or running at Kaarutin mindlessly with only an unloaded gun. To this action, Kaarutin slapped them with his staff. They hit the floor hard, and Kaarutin quickly dashed to the back of the airplane hangar sized room. He ripped the lid off of a metal box, obviously using magic, and looked inside_. So this is what they've been hiding_, he thought_. They were going to plant this on Zebes...well, that plan is gone now_. Maybe you all are wondering what was in the metal box. A bomb. Yeah, a bomb. These Mertonians really don't have many _original _plans, do they? I mean, how typically is a bomb used on an area? That's among the most used plans bad guys (and in some cases, good guys) use on their enemies. In fact, maybe Kaarutin can use this...to end the Mertonians finally. After all, the intelligent Mertonians only have three known cities on SR388. And the primitives/exile Mertonians (the exiled Mertonians were exiled for doing good deeds. Go figure) live in the forestial areas on SR388. The three known cities Kaarutin and the other Chozo know of are Nartoa, Elugia (pronounced eh-loo-juh), and Retara. Kaarutin was standing in Nartoa right now, the city in which the Grua lives. Isn't it? Kaarutin thought so, but wasn't sure. Not like it'd matter once he and the others escape SR388, leaving Nartoa, the largest and most thriving city, to burn helplessly. Nartoa, once destroyed, will end the economy of the Mertonians, causing many suicide reports and/or murders caused by Metroids. But the effects will only be temporary-the Mertonains will find another leader in almost no time, just look for a merciless fool who really doesn't give a crap about nature. So, maybe Kaarutin will have to destroy all three cities. With one bomb. Well, that plan's gone. But there had to be something he could do.

_Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt! _That annoying little buzz means someone is trying to contact Kaarutin. He pulled out his contacter, and clicked a button.

"Eneta! Our armies have managed to destroy the city of Retara! The inhabitants within it have either died, or surrendered and forced theirself into exile," the voice said. Kaarutin flipped the contacter off, and was partially joyed. The Chozodian army are actually worth something. Not that they weren't before, but they hadn't done this well. Unfortunately, however, Retara is the smallest of the three cities. That was the drawback to all this. But, Kaarutin moved on. He was heading to the main tower now.

**SR388-Nartoa Tower...Entrance**

Well, this sucks. The tower that Kaarutin has to enter has no permeable door, or archway, or any other sort of entrance you could think of. Well, make that there's no simple entrance, but don't tell that to Kaarutin. Kaarutin looked behind himself. Nartoa was falling apart itself. The Metroids were swarming practically, and the Mertonians really didn't care Kaarutin stood in their kingdom-nor that he existed. And that's saying something-I think you all by now know what I mean.

**SR388-Chozo Temple?**

Gyuta wasn't incorrect-the Metroid was large. As big as-maybe an elephant. Not a normal size for a Metroid. The Metroid faced Gyuta intimidatingly. Gyuta was ready to take out his secret weapon-the Mertonia Sphere-until the Metroid screeched and streched its fangs out. Gyuta's quick avian reflexes forced him to take out the Mertonia Sphere, and held it tightly. But the Metroid was still able to dash towards Gyuta, angry and thirsty for life-energy. Gyuta quickly dodged the beast, and attempted to possess it again. Nothing. Gyuta had no choice-he had to find a way out. Before the Metroid relieved stress from its fangs and started to chase Gyuta, he quickly looked around for an exit. Another doorway! Duh. He ran down it, hearing the eardrum-busting screech of the large Metroid chase after him. He ran down a corridor, and up a staircase. He hadn't time to stop and look at the Chozodian depictions-the Metroid was gaining. Finally, Gyuta ran outside. The solar system's sun was shining bright-and Gyuta was in it. The Metroid flew out of the archway as well, and wasn't able to shorten its velocity in time, so it flew over Gyuta's head. Gyuta stopped for a second. Where was he? He looked down. An extremely long cliff. Heheh. He was on a mountain, on SR388. At the bottom of the canyon, he saw a crippled city-Retara. Metroids were bound to be there. He looked over, and saw the forests, far away. And, in seeing this amazing view, he almost forgot about the oversized Metroid _trying to eat him. _Quickly he thought...hm...What to do when an elephant-sized Metroid oblivious to the effects of the Mertonia Sphere is ready to strike at your skull, and running back into the temple would be useless. Well, Gyuta was stumped. He had no other choice than to jump down. So, he did so.

Gyuta fell down the canyon, part of him hoping the suit will protect him from a hard fall, and the other part of him enjoying the breeze. _Whoooosh! _Even in a time of peril, this was enjoyable. The large Metroid zipped down clumsily-it was way to bulky. One more victim and only Bruyat Zebes knows what'll happen next! Gyuta hit the ground hard, and dust flew out in all directions. Did he die? The dust faded, and Gyuta found himself still standing on both feet. But jeez-that hurt. The Metroid followed behind almost immediately, and Gyuta quickly dodged out of the way. _The bigger they are, the harder they fall. _He ran towards the ruins of Retara and hid behind a smashed pillar. The Metroid looked one way, and then another. It hit the ground extremely hard-again it couldn't slow itself quickly due to the speed it was going. Gyuta peeked out from behind the pillar. The Metroid had hit the ground really hard-its bulbous shield was practically embedded in the soil. Gyuta snickered lowly, and heard a cry for help, not too far from his location. He looked in that direction, and mixed his super-avian sight with his Combat Visor's zooming-in capabilities. The cry for help was probably from one he wouldn't answer. It was a Mertonian, most likely a leftover from the destruction of Retara. It wasn't a soldier, as far as Gyuta could tell. This rat looked horrified, unarmed, completely defenseless. Heck, if Gyuta was a killer beast like a Metroid, he could effortlessly slaughter this citizen on the spot. But one thing: Gyuta had a heart. _Let the Metroids have this one, _he thought. Then, Gyuta could hear a squawk-a Chozo soldier remained. Five, actually, all from a different army. The soldier squawked because he saw Gyuta, and he hid behind a stone. Gyuta stared at the stone suspiciously, and walked over. Behind the stone, a quivering Chozo looked up at Gyuta.

"Relax. I am a friend, remember?" Gyuta held out his three-fingered hand, two index fingers and one opposable thumb. The Chozo gripped Gyuta's hand tightly, and Gyuta lifted him up. Then, Gyuta realized why the Chozo was quivering at the sight of Gyuta. It was the tattler. The one who tattled on him and Kaarutin for religious purposes. Gyuta had wanted to tell this idiot off, but he tried to hold it in. The soldier quivered because Gyuta had the power to kill him right there, and the soldier hadn't the power to make vice versa possible.

"You tattled on us," Gyuta said, and by the tone in his voice you could tell he was holding his anger in. "Kaarutin and I."

"What are you going to do? Defy the gods and kill me?"

"Kaarutin did it. And at least you shan't be exiled as death," Gyuta said. He heard a screech from behind him, and he had just realized that the oversized Metroid recovered from its little dirt bath. The Metroid spotted Gyuta, and relieved the stress from its fangs, followed by a mad dash. Gyuta dodged out of the way, and the Metroid again flew through the air, unable to slow itself. It flew right at the soldier, who pathetically attempted to shield hisself using his arms. The Metroid latched onto the tattler's skull, and an eerie slurping noise was heard. The Chozodian soldier's face looked zombie-like, and he fell over, dying. Gyuta did not at all feel good about this deed. He actually regretted it. But was it better to be sucked out by a Metroid, or burn in the hellish flames of Norfair? Gyuta would've chosen the Metroid. The other four Chozo soldiers glared at Gyuta. Then, something critically dangerous alerted Gyuta-the Metroid got bigger. But bigger in a bad way. It was once a levitation-enabled little creature that grew bigger in size-nothing else. Apparently, that is the larval stage, since the egg stage of a Metroid's is much like a bee's. And, the fact that this Metroid had its bublous shell busting open, and its meatball-like core seemed to melt off of where it was. A huge insectoid emerged from the shell, and it squealed. Not as intimidating as the bulbous, fanged meatball, but it can be deadly. It had small spikes on its back, and its new skin seemed easier to puncture. Maybe the Mertonia Sphere can control this new and not-so-improved pupa of a once deadly creature. But, of course, nobody knew what it could do. Yet. A Chozodian soldier ran up to Gyuta and hit his helmet. Gyuta merely flinched.

"You've killed someone using a life-drainer! What, has Mertonian brain cells somehow, in some inexplicable way, rubbed off onto you? Or are you just a poor victim of mental insanity? Which is it?" The soldier was enraged, you could tell. Perhaps the now dead soldier's best friend.

"Are _you _mentally insane? Would not you rather be drained by a Metroid over burning in the synthetic hell that is Norfair? He was going to be exiled to there once we returned to Zebes as soon as Chunai Iruti figures out he tattled on me and Kaarutin! As far as I'm concerned, I did this soldier a favor!" Gyuta's voice was deep, and heavy. He could kill all these Chozos right now, blame the Mertonians, and not get in trouble at all. Or, he could be the bigger person and let them live, resulting in being sent to Norfair due to Chunai's orders of murder penalties. _Without the Power Suit. _For us humans, that is a somewhat easy decision, because nowadays we have not even half a care about sin. Most of us would pick "kill them now" so you don't have to be exiled into an area an unadapted being could barely stand for a day and have your life miserable. But for a Chozo, this would be hard. Hm, maybe _he _wouldn't have to kill them. Gyuta thought this once he remembered a parasitic life-form with unknown potential was floating there. Maybe it couldn't do much if anything, because it would've attacked by now. The Chozodian soldier turned away, and walked forward. Only to be knocked over helplessly after a quick flash. Gyuta looked over to his side. The Metroid pupa was still there, floating innocently but just as menacingly as before. Gyuta had a quick thought-it was growing. The Metroid pupa was growing. Another flash, and a bystanding Chozo soldier fell over. Gyuta was staring at the pupa the whole time. It wasn't doing anything. Or was it? Another flash, and a third Chozo soldier crashed to the ground. Still, it was just floating. _And getting bigger._

**SR388-Hidden Passage**

Kaarutin hadn't found anything yet, but he was onto something. Back in the warehouse, he found an unfolding opening in a wall he had to move boxes away from. He crawled through it, and entered a room that was enclosed by purple rock. Not much in here, but it led deeper in. Eventually, Kaarutin fell out of a vent and ended up on a dusty floor. His avian senses told him there was life watching him, and he got up, and brushed himself off. He looked up. A scrawny, young looking Chozo was in front of him, in awe.

"Hello there," Kaarutin greeted. The Chozo took a while before responding.

"Are you here to save us?" it said. _Us? _Kaarutin thought.

"Well, no. Not really. Unless you consider slaying the Grua as helping you," Kaarutin replied. The Chozo froze, and hugged Kaarutin. Freaked out, Kaarutin pushed the bird away.

"I've been trapped here for fifty cycles, and I am two hundred cycles old. I am excited," it said. Kaarutin now knew why this guy was insane-he hadn't much time to get a life. Kaarutin brushed himself off.

"How many of you are there?" he asked.

"Never counted. We're all from different Chozo settlements," the Chozo replied. "I'm from Tallon IV. My name is Tyrus Hyuan." Kaarutin recognized that form of the Chozodian language. This guy was definitely born on Tallon IV. "What's your name?"

"Eneta Kaarutin," Kaarutin replied.

"Hm...I'm guessing you're from...Treiis IX?" the Chozo guessed. Kaarutin sighed.

"No. I'm Zebes's Yutano," he said back, and Tyrus's eyes widened. Again with the freaking out.

"So...you can, like...use your magic...to open the doors here?" Tyrus asked. Kaarutin nodded.

"But then again, not much choice here," Kaarutin said disappointingly, looking at the vent. It was too high to re-enter. He sighed, and withdrew his staff, and casted a spell on the plasma shield that keeps prisoners in. Sure enough, the beam of light shot right through the shield and hit the reactor, making the shield fade. They were good to go. Kaarutin and Tyrus left the cell, and Kaarutin was astonished at the size of the dungeon-airplane hangar sized. Cells were lined in three different stories, and Kaarutin was on the bottom. What was funny was...every prisoner except for about three per story were Chozo. Overall, there were about sixty jail cells, all heavily shielded with a plasma shield. Kaarutin could rid of that easily. The problem? Aside from having a freaking insane Chozo by his side, security systems were _everywhere. _How is he going to get out of this situation?

**SR388-Ruins of Retara**

"Are you doing this!" a Chozo soldier screamed at Gyuta.

"No, I swear!" Gyuta responded. "I think maybe...it's the Metroid!"

"That is an involuntary excuse! You and I both see the Metroid doing nothing," the Chozo said. "And if it was, couldn't you stop it? Do you not have the Mertonia Sphere?"

"No! It seems to only work on the larva," Gyuta replied.

"Well, whatever it is, do something! You're the main warrior!" Gyuta thought for a second. Maybe, it was the Metroid. How else could it be getting bigger? Another flash lit, and a Chozo soldier hit the ground. Now, only Gyuta and two soldiers remained. "There goes another."

The Metroid pupa stopped floating, and hit the ground. Gyuta felt halfway relieved. _Is it...dead? _The pupa had finished its pupal stage, apparently, since the bulb part busted open, and a two-legged creature with the body form of an ostrich, but not quite as tall, stepped out. No, it's not dead. It became a Young Metroid.

"What the...?" The Chozo soldier was cut off. The two-legged creature kicked him hard in his side, and he fell sideways. Then, the Young Metroid set one foot onto the body of the injured Chozo, and opened its ugly mouth, complete with three fangs. It quickly settled its head into the body of the merely injured Chozo soldier, and it wasn't draining life-force anymore. It was literally _devouring _the soldier. The creature lifted its head, revealing an extremely large hole in the rib of the Chozo. The injury was clean, but the Young Metroid's fangs weren't. They were splashed in blood. The creature screeched, and grew bigger. This time, it grew tiny stubs for arms. It was growing fast. _Too _fast. Gyuta quickly shot a beam, only for it to be deflected off the armor of the Young Metroid. _Well, that's something I need to tell Yutano and father to improve, _he thought, referring to how weak the beam was once he thought about it. The Young Metroid zipped towards the other soldier, and caused the same procedure. Gyuta looked away, so he wouldn't have to see the graphic violence a Metroid causes. Once he realized the Metroid was done with that particular victim, he looked back. It had grown bigger, and had stronger backside plating now, complete with bigger fangs, and arms with claws. One more victim-or two, or three. This thing was growing way too fast to be natural. Was something affecting its metamorphic rate? Or were these things naturally this quick at maturing? Then, Gyuta felt sudden shock in his system. The Metroid was now staring at _him. _He was next. Maybe. Gyuta ran as fast as he could, and jumped into a hole, Morph Ball form. Along the way, the Young Metroid ate the life out of the survivor Mertonian. It grew again, this time actually looking threatening. I mean, yeah, they're threatening to begin with, but dumbbutts would never expect it to be this bad by just looking at it until now. No longer a screech. The Metroid _roared. _Now, it was searching for Gyuta. Gyuta was the main prey.

**SR388-Dungeons of Nartoa Tower**

What could be worse than a life-sucking creature latch onto your skull and kill you? Nothing, really. But Tyrus Hyuan came close. All Tyrus did as Kaarutin was doing all the freeing was blabber about how great Kaarutin was, and how beautiful his relatives said Zebes was on their last visit. Definitely not the sidekick you'd want. I _hope _it's not the kind of sidekick you'd want. Good thing Kaarutin never agreed to that. Who knew a Chozo could be so annoying? They can all love nature, but at least one of them have to be a motormouth.

"My mother always says Zebes is amazing with its beautiful tan color. Do you have forests on Zebes? Got any new inventions devised? What's it like to be the Yutano, working along with the Chunai? Tallon IV's Yutano is scary. You're not. You're nice. How close are we to freeing all the slaves?..." It just kept going on and on. Kaarutin sure as heck had a big tolerance range, but this guy...Kaarutin wished he had went down a different passage to a different cell. But what if Tyrus Hyuan was the quietest one of all the prisoners? Being locked in a prison like this is definitely insanity-inducing. The thought was painful to Kaarutin, but he mentally shrugged and supposed he had to feel bad for this weirdo. But how long could he hold it in before he bursts?

"We are close to freeing every last one. Without getting caught at all," Kaarutin said sarcastically.

"Yay!" Tyrus said.

_I should just kill him now, _Kaarutin thought. "You ignorant bird! That was sarcasm! We are nowhere near freeing every last one, fulfilling your request! The Mertonians are bound to catch us anytime now! I don't even know why I'm doing this! I need to slay the Grua! Why don't _you _do this all? You're free, think of something!"

"Because you're the Yutano of Zebes," Tyrus responded. And that is where Kaarutin's tolerance bubble bursts.

"Good luck," Kaarutin said, and dashed off as fast as he could. _Hahaha! I'm finally loose from that numbskull! _Kaarutin thought. To his dismay, Tyrus was running right alongside Kaarutin. The style Tyrus was running in alerted Kaarutin that Tyrus could run even faster than that. Crap. Tyrus waved, as if to say "hi".

_I gotta get out of this treacherous place, _Kaarutin thought. He jumped up, and landed on a platform. A Mertonian soldier spotted him, and readied a weapon. Almost immediately, Kaarutin saw a tan streak flash past him. Tyrus.

"Get away! I've had enough of you! You require mental assistance!" Kaarutin jumped to another platform, higher than the last. The Mertonian put his laser down and chuckled.

_Never saw a Chozo duel another for personal purposes and without proper initiation. First time for everything, I suppose, _it thought. Kaarutin leaped again, and Tyrus followed.

"Please just leave me. Hack the cells yourself!" he yelled at Tyrus. "I'm sure you are capable of such a task." Kaarutin kept leaping up. The Mertonian guard below snapped his focus awake and noticed that the older Chozo was on his way to entering the Grua's chamber. It took out its raygun again, and pointed it at Kaarutin first, as the other seemed lost without the older one.

"Approach no further, bird!" the rat called to Kaarutin. Kaarutin stopped breifly on a platform.

"You do not understand! I'm trying to escape this insane lunatic!" Kaarutin called, and realizing Tyrus was right behind him leaped upward more.

"You cannot fool us! I know you are the Yutano of Zebes. Trickery is your tactic," the Mertonian said. Now, he was jumping upward further to reach Kaarutin. He fired a shot at Kaarutin, but he quickly dodged, and Tyrus dodged barely. Tyrus stopped on a platform to rub on an injury-the raygun had skinned him slightly.

"Hey! That could've been my arm!" Tyrus yelled at the Mertonian guard.

"Big whoop. I've been in many more battles than you, and I lost over a third of my tail and five of my toes. Besides, you belong back in your cell," the guard replied. It aimed back at Kaarutin and fired, and Kaarutin dodged hardly. He leaped into a vent above and started to crawl.

"Darn. He was my only hope to get out of here," Tyrus said.

"From what he told me, you popped his bubble of tolerance. I don't think he would help you at all. But now, you need to get back to your cell," the guard said.

* * *

**SR388-?**

Gyuta ended up in the forest again, still being chased by the adult Metroid. You don't want to be trapped by an adult Metroid ever. They're worse than a Larva. Gyuta ended up at a base camp of another troop of Chozos.

"Hey! Over here!" Gyuta yelled. The other soldiers looked at Gyuta.

"What?" the commander yelled. "We're trying to stay safe! Don't blow our cover!" Then, the commander saw the Sphere. "Oh, Zebes. Get down here! We have somewhere to put it!"

However, before Gyuta jumped down, the adult Metroid swung at his side, making Gyuta fall down the hill. The Metroid roared.

"What the hell is that?" the commander asked, walking towards Gyuta. Gyuta raised his head.

"It is...an adult Metroid..." Gyuta said in pain. The commander gasped, and the Metroid jumped off the hill and landed at the camp.

"Give me the Sphere! Give me it!" the commander said. Gyuta handed him the Sphere.

"Wave it all you want, it doesn't work," Gyuta quivered. "Not on adults."

"Damn," the commander said. "Then try your suit."

The thought popped in his head. He opened the arm cannon, and fired a missle at the adult's mouth. It roared its mouth open, and he rolled into the Maru Mari and entered the mouth. Gyuta laid a Maru Mari Bomb in the throat of the adult Metroid, and rolled out. As the bomb exploded, so did the Metroid's head. Gyuta had slain it.

The commander and the other troops were clapping.

"Wow. Good strategy," he said. Gyuta looked up at him.

"I need to return to our landing site," he said. The Chozo commander stared at him.

"But your job is not done," the commander replied. "We still have two cities to demolish."

"I know. But Yutano Kaarutin is already on the verge of destroying another...I think," Gyuta replied.

A communicator went off on the commander's belt.

"City cleared!" it buzzed. Gyuta talked back into it.

"Which one?" he asked.

"Elugia!" it buzzed back.

The commander turned his communicator off, and looked at Gyuta.

"Final city's Nartoa," he said. "Is that the one Yutano is at?"

"Yeah," Gyuta replied.

"Good. Get in the ship. We're gonna fly there," the commander said.

* * *

**SR388-Nartoa Tower**

So, Kaarutin finally made it here. It was about time. You may be wondering why the guard from the dungeon didn't follow him. Well, it's because he thought he didn't have to. The true guards of the Mertonian Palace are stronger than any force on the planet, soKaarutin had to be careful.

He injected himself with a needle that made him fade into shadows, and he slipped past many guards.

Eventually, Kaarutin reached the throne room. Still faded, he went behind the floating throne of the Grua.

"Are the Chozos neutralized yet?" Grua asked.

"No, Grua. Quite the contrary. They have destroyed two of our cities, and aiming for this one," a squire replied.

"Damn it!" Grua squawked. "I want those birds to be squashed as soon as possible!"

"We're trying our best, sir," the squire said. The Grua glared at the squire, and lifted him by the neck.

"Well, your best just doesn't seem to be enough, does it?" he barked. He snapped the squire's neck, and dropped the body. "Now. Who's next?"

"Not me," Kaarutin said, and zipped around the throne and stabbed the Grua with his staff. He was visible now. The Grua was wheezing, and blood dripped from his mouth.

"You...you...bitch..." the Grua said. Kaarutin tsked.

"Cursing will get you locked up, where I come from," Kaarutin said cheerfully. A bunch of Mertonian soldiers and guards went after Kaarutin, but he jumped out of the way. These Mertonians had plasma weapons and lasers rather than limited humanoid firearms. A smart thing indeed.

Kaarutin set out a whip, and cracked it. He busted up a few rats before a ship crashed through the wall. Kaarutin looked up.

"Oh my Zebes! It is a ship to pick me up!" he said. The ship docked, and Gyuta came out with the squadron he was just with.

"Get in!" Gyuta yelled. Further examination showed he was wielding the Sphere.

"Wait!" Kaarutin yelled back, and Gyuta wondered what was wrong. Kaarutin set and armed the small bomb on the throne of the Grua, who was still dying, and ran to jump on the ship. Gyuta fired off the soldiers, so Kaarutin could have a safe entrance.

Kaarutin jumped, and his arms reached over the ledge. He tried to pull himself up, but he ended up being pulled back down.

"Not so fast, Zebesian Yutano," a voice said. Kaarutin looked down, and was surprised.

"Tyrus?"

"You fell for that trick? You're not so smart, after all. But you are going to die with me," Tyrus said.

"If you're not Tyrus...who are you?"

The Chozo grinned evilly.

"I am Nuralin Kakuran. I'm not from Tallon IV...I'm from Zebes. And if you were stupid enough to believe me, you don't deserve the title Yutano," Kakuran said. Kaarutin's eyes widened.

"No. Just no," Kaarutin said.

"Hey! What's the hold up?" Gyuta asked. Kaarutin looked at Kakuran.

"Just get on," he said.

A laser came flying from nowhere and hit the ship, making Gyuta drop the Mertonia Sphere. The Sphere rolled out the doors.

"No!" Gyuta said, running for it. Just having got on, Kaarutin stopped him.

"Just leave it. It should survive the explosion. Besides, the important thing is, the Mertonian War is over," he said. Gyuta nodded. He noticed Kakuran.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Nuralin Kakuran. I was held prisoner here, since the Mertonians hated my work," Kakuran said. Gyuta glanced at Kaarutin, and blinked.

"Wait...what? You worked for the Mertonians?" Gyuta said. "What are you doing here?" Kaarutin started to explain to Gyuta.

"Yes. Nuralin Kakuran is the worst Chozodian criminal to this day. He has committed murder, robberies, and the worst of all: treason," Kaarutin said. "He needs to be put in his place."

"Ahem," Kakuran said. "I am right here."

Kaarutin rolled his eyes, and sighed. He should be joyous, but somehow he just wasn't.

* * *

**Zebes**

After the war, the Chozos had a party, and sealed Nuralin Kakuran in his rightful place so he could serve the gods...

_Author's Note_: The first chapter isn't the end. It was ridiculously long, yes, but remember-I'm going through Samus's childhood and her first mission in deeper detail. This story is far from done.


	2. Beginning of a Criminal Plan

Man, that was a long explanation. I tried telling you about that in the first Metroid, but none of you all listened well, so I retold my story in greater detail. While you all did better on listening then, you still missed out on the details. So, here we are. Anyway, we have to move on.

When the Mertonian War was finished, the Chozos had many attacks from a group of space nomads who seek galactic domination (how cliche), and we all know who they are if we played enough Metroid. They are the Space Pirates. Now, we have no official conflict with these creatures, but it's come damn close. 

**Galactic Council HQ, Year 2307**

This is where a defense began. After crime came flying left and right, we needed a force. A force to protect our galaxy against the harm of criminalistic aliens. But what we did not know, is that those aliens would eventually form together into a much bigger force.

We believed the aliens would eventually part, eventually become their own threat to us for us to find easier to pick off. We were wrong. Among the many species that shapes this group is a large, intimidating, charismatic leader that rose before the rest and made a promise to all those ill-minded, that he would be a proud leader of the criminals. This creature? His name is a name feared among creatures ranging from GFS Marines to lower-class Space Pirates. His name is Ridley.

What does Ridley look like? Picture a dragon as skinny as a pterodactyl with the darkest shade of purple as the color of his scaly skin. He lacks pupils in his eyes, as well. Most of you would end up with a mental image that resembles something that would be classed as an insane monster, but what you may not know is that Ridley is among the most intelligent geniuses in the galaxy.

But anyway.

**Krurallan Atmosphere, Year 2314**

This was a horrible time for the newly formed Galactic Federation to go to SR388. They were established since 2307, and they haven't proven much worth until now. They were taking a survey on SR388. They named the planet so because they didn't know the real name, and it was classed in primary file S, secondary file R, and the 388th planet logged in R. They had to survey it because it was a newly discovered planet, and they had to test if it was safe or not. 

"Sir, we are approaching the surface of forestial planet SR388," a troop said.

"Good," the commander replied.

"Prepare for landing!" the pilot called back. Everyone sat in their seat, put their helmet on, and held on to the straps of their seat. The ship rocketed downward, and increased in friction dramatically. Fire surrounded the vessel as it flew towards the surface. Eventually, the ship had landed safely, lucky as everyone was. When the ship halted, the commander turned around to face the other troops.

"Okay. Inspection!" the commander called out. "Suits ready?"

"Check!" all troops yelled out.

"Weapons loaded?"

"Check!"

"Shields activated?"

"Check!"

"We're good to go," the commander said. "Open the bridge, private."

The pilot pressed a series of buttons, and the door opened to the grassy floor of a Mertonian forest.

**SR388-Mertonian Forests**

The commander walked out, and stared out into the beautiful but foreign-looking woodlands of SR388.

"You said creatures once lived here?" the commander asked the nearby researcher.

"Yessir. They were a humanoid rodent species called the Mertonians, and for some reason, they disappeared. No one knows why," the researcher responded.

"Well, that's typical. The only thing the GFS gets to do is walk on dead man's land. It's all we've been doing for the last seven years, and it's probably going to stay that way for God knows how long," the commander swore. "Any readings?"

"Yessir. There are a few heat pick-ups over here..." the researcher was cut off, as a purple toad hopped from behind a bush -almost out of nowhere- and started ripping at the researcher's armor with sharp teeth. "Ahh! What the hell?"

"Shoot it! Shoot it, troops!" the commander yelled. The troops fired at the toad, and eventually it keeled over. The researcher stood back up, and checked his readings.

UNKNOWN ERROR-That's what his screen said.

"Aw, shit. The bastard busted my scanner!" the researcher screamed.

"Damn!" the commander yelled. "Now how are we supposed to know what the hell is gonna come around and kill us?"

The troops shrugged helplessly. The commander stomped. He put his hand on his forehead, and thought for a second. His thoughts became aloud.

"That toad would make a great addition to research studies if we make it back alive," the commander said. "Put it in a cryogenic chamber."

The troops hauled the toad into the ship. About five minutes later, they returned.

"Task done, sir," a troop said.

"Good," the commander replied. "We should get moving. Take samples of all liquids you can find, and plants as well."

About an hour later, the GFS troops were at a waterfall that went miles downward.

"I seriously doubt we'll find anything there-"

"Look!" A troop cut the researcher's statement off, pointing in a direction. The rest of them looked over and saw a whisp of smoke rising in an area. Could it be civilization? Or just a forest fire? Only one way to find out, eh?

The troops scaled the waterfall, and in about two hours reached the source of the smoke.

"Oh my God," the commander said. He was staring at ruins-BIG ruins. HUGE. In the center, a big cloud of smoke was rising into the air. Sound familiar, anyone who read the first chapter?

For those who didn't (most of you probably have not --), Eneta Kaarutin, the Yutano (master shaman) of Zebes activated a bomb he stole from a warehouse in what used to be the Mertonian city Nartoa. This happened one-hundred-one years from what is happening now. Anyway.

"Sir! Look over here!" a troop said, and the commander followed him. The commander saw a glowing black orb.

"What is it?"

"I dunno. Some kind of orb," the troop responded. He picked it up, and examined it. "Maybe, some stone the Mertonians used to assist in rituals?"

"Hell if I know," the commander said. "I just want to get out of here. On the way, we surveyed, what, ten species? And they were all deadly."

"Can do, sir. We just have to keep this orb, perhaps we could have our philosophical branch study it?" the researcher asked/

"Maybe," the commander said.

Out of nowhere, a large bulb flew from the smoke and latched onto a troops head. The troop swung around like a crazy guy, and the other troops were firing at the bulb. He had been attacked by a Metroid.

"Ah! Get this thing off of me!" the troop yelled. Suddenly, the troop fell over. Blood leaked from his head as the Metroid rose up, and screeched.

"Kill it!" the commander yelled. Troops from left and right were shooting at the Metroid, but nothing happened. A troop then picked up the orb, and swung it. The Metroid followed movement. He swung the orb in another direction, and the Metroid followed.

"Amazing," the commander said.

**THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!**

"What the hell was that?" a troop asked. A loud, gargantuan screech echoed into the distance, and an adult Metroid's head poked out from the smoke. It screeched again, with its claws in the air, and picked up a troop with his mouth. The adult Metroid ripped the troop in half, and screeched again as blood splattered across the ground.

"Oh, shit," the commander said. "Let's move! Call the ship!"

The researcher called the ship, and the bridge quickly opened. The remaining troops, the commander, and the researcher got on the ship. The bridge was about to close, and the Metroid tried its best to get on, but the bridge closed and snapped its head off. Green guts spilled on the floor.

"Gross," a troop said. The researcher held the orb, as the Metroid larva stayed near.

"You kept that thing?" another troop asked. The researcher nodded.

"This orb seems to control it," the researcher said. "Fascinating, is it not?"

**Krurallan Atmosphere**

As the troops exited the atmosphere, something peculiar was happening in a nearby ship. A shadowy silhouette sat at the bridge, with dim lights. The silhouette resembled a winged creature. He sat as if he were a frog, but he was shaped as a dragon. In the darkness, you could see his bright yellow, dragon-like eyes, and so, he squinted.

"How close are we?" he asked the darkness behind him.

"Very, sir. They had stolen something very valuable," a voice replied.

"Wonderful," the silhouette responded. "Follow the ship."

"Yessir," the voice replied, and hit a button. The large ship left the atmosphere unseen, and was in a cloak that made it invisible. It slipped past the GFS ship, and floated in front of it.

On the GFS ship, people were obtaining coffee and having a break. They had gone through a lot.

"Man, I hope I never see that planet again," the commander said. He rested lowly in his seat, and the ship was forced in a direction. "What the hell?"

"We've been hit!" the pilot screamed. "Our tanks are busted!"

"Shit! Troops! Prepare for de-oxygenization!" the commander yelled back. The Metroid larva was just playfully floating around when all of this happened.

"They're getting closer. Remove invisibility and open the bridge!" the silhouette screamed.

The troops looked out the window and saw a large purple ship the size of a mountain appear and open out of nowhere. The troops braced theirself as the ship seemed to have swallowed them whole...

The troops woke up in a room where they were hung on a wall, and below them, many aliens were cheering.

"What the hell?" the commander said. The crowd was silenced as the doors above opened, and the dragon walked through the doorway.

"Greetings, my poor, pitiful human beings. I am here to rip you to shreds, as you seem to have everything against us when all we had done is destroy a few of your planets, kill nearly a third of the population, and steal a few things we harvest so we could rule this pathetic galaxy," the dragon said. The commander glared.

"Who are you?" he yelled. The dragon laughed maniacally.

"Who am I? Who are you not to know who I am?" the creature retorted. "Surely by now you know that I am the great and powerful Ridley!"

The commander's eyes widened. Oh, shit. Ridley caught them.

"Steal what they have in their ship," Ridley told his Space Pirates. They went in. Ridley faced the troops. "You're screwed."

So, I'm sure you know what happens. Ridley kills the crew of GFS troops, and keeps the Mertonia Sphere and the Metroid. Metroids are easy to clone, so Ridley did so. This was the beginning of a big plan.


End file.
